Flames and smoke shoot up after an explosion at a townhouse complex Tuesday, March 4, 2014, in Ewing, N.J. / Josh Forst, AP

by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

EWING, New Jersey (AP) - A gas leak and explosion in a New Jersey neighborhood killed one resident and injured seven workers Tuesday while destroying one home and damaging dozens of others, authorities said.

The body was not discovered until late in the day, some distance from the home. Police were working to establish the victim's identity, Lt. Ron Lunetta said, adding that no one else was believed to be missing.

At least 55 units in the housing complex were damaged, police said, including seven that were "pretty much destroyed," Fire Marshal Bill Erney said.

The utility PSE&G said it got a call that a contractor had damaged a gas line. Crews were repairing the line when it exploded.

The force from the explosion buckled windows in an apartment complex nearby, said resident Marsha Brown, and pictures fell from her walls.

"It felt like a bomb," she said.

She saw a home engulfed in flames and two utility workers on the lawn with injuries that apparently included broken bones.

Three of those victims had to be hospitalized and none of those injuries was considered life-threatening, said Dr. Louis D'Amelio, trauma chief at Capital Regional Medical Center in Trenton. They included concussions, broken bones and minor shrapnel wounds, he said.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All
rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.